CERN ASACUSA experiment produces first beam of antihydrogen atoms for hyperfine study

A photograph of multiple ring electrodes installed in the cusp magnet. 

Antihydrogen atoms are synthesised inside the left cylinders and are analysed at the right electrodes by the field ionisation technique. 

Credit: N. Kuroda

The ASACUSA experiment at CERN has succeeded for the first time in producing a beam of antihydrogen atoms.

In a paper published today in Nature Communications, the ASACUSA collaboration reports the unambiguous detection of 80 antihydrogen atoms 2.7 metres downstream of their production, where the perturbing influence of the magnetic fields used initially to produce the antiatoms is small.

This result is a significant step towards precise hyperfine spectroscopy of antihydrogen atoms.

Primordial antimatter has so far never been observed in the Universe, and its absence remains a major scientific enigma.


Nevertheless, it is possible to produce significant amounts of antihydrogen in experiments at CERN by mixing antielectrons (positrons) and low energy antiprotons produced by the Antiproton Decelerator.

The spectra of hydrogen and antihydrogen are predicted to be identical, so any tiny difference between them would immediately open a window to new physics, and could help in solving the antimatter mystery.

With its single proton accompanied by just one electron, hydrogen is the simplest existing atom, and one of the most precisely investigated and best understood systems in modern physics.

Thus comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen atoms constitute one of the best ways to perform highly precise tests of matter/antimatter symmetry.

Matter and antimatter annihilate immediately when they meet, so aside from creating antihydrogen, one of the key challenges for physicists is to keep antiatoms away from ordinary matter.

To do so, experiments take advantage of antihydrogen's magnetic properties (which are similar to hydrogen's) and use very strong non-uniform magnetic fields to trap antiatoms long enough to study them.

However, the strong magnetic field gradients degrade the spectroscopic properties of the (anti)atoms.

To allow for clean high-resolution spectroscopy, the ASACUSA collaboration developed an innovative set-up to transfer antihydrogen atoms to a region where they can be studied in flight, far from the strong magnetic field.

The ASACUSA CUSP apparatuses in the CERN Antiproton Decelerator. 

Credit: N. Kuroda

"Antihydrogen atoms having no charge, it was a big challenge to transport them from their trap."

"Our results are very promising for high-precision studies of antihydrogen atoms, particularly the hyperfine structure, one of the two best known spectroscopic properties of hydrogen."

Yasunori Yamazaki

"Its measurement in antihydrogen will allow the most sensitive test of matter/antimatter symmetry. We are looking forward to restarting this summer with an even more improved set-up," said Yasunori Yamazaki of RIKEN, Japan, a team leader of the ASACUSA collaboration.

The next step for the ASACUSA experiment will be to optimize the intensity and kinetic energy of antihydrogen beams, and to understand better their quantum state.

Experimental concept of the planned in-flight antihydrogen hyperfine spectroscopy. 

Antihydrogen atoms are synthesised in the cusp trap (shown with magnetic field lines in the left).

Some of them flow out towards the downstream (right) direction and are detected at the end. 

Credit: E. Widmann and N. Kuroda

Progress with antimatter experiments at CERN has been accelerating in recent years.

In 2011, the ALPHA experiment announced trapping of antihydrogen atoms for 1000 seconds and reported observation of hyperfine transitions of trapped antiatoms in 2012.

In 2013, the ATRAP experiment announced the first direct measurement of the antiproton's magnetic moment with a fractional precision of 4.4 parts in a million.

More information: Paper: dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4089

Northrop Grumman AF-18 UAS: Block 40 Global Hawk HALE, starts into production

The latest version of the RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) took off from Northrop Grumman’s manufacturing plant in Palmdale, California, and flew to nearby Edwards Air Force Base on November 16.

Designated AF-18, the aircraft is a ‘Block 40’ version and the eleventh Global Hawk to arrive at Edwards.

Global Hawk production acceptance activities will now move from Edwards to ‘Air Force Plant 42’ in Palmdale, speeding up deliveries.

"AF-18 is the first of 15 Block 40 Global Hawk aircraft scheduled for fielding to Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, in 2010," said Steve Amburgey, Global Hawk programme director for the 303d Aeronautical Systems Group based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The Block 40 aircraft feature ‘Multi-Platform - Radar Technology Insertion Program radar' (MP-RTIP), a "modular, active electronically scanned array radar system", primary improvements being an increase in resolution and an ability "to collect ground moving target indicator imagery and synthetic aperture radar still images simultaneously", according to manufacturer Raytheon.

The MP-RTIP radar uses active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology and commercial off-the-shelf hardware to deliver long range, very high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR), ground moving target indicator (GMTI) capabilities and air target tracking.

Fundamental to the radar is its modular scalable design, which allows it to be applied to multiple airborne platforms.

MP-RTIP will provide war fighters improved combat identification, target tracking and time critical targeting, while adding an impressive new air-to-air capability to support cruise missile defense.

This powerful combination can aid commanders in developing predictive battlespace awareness and targeting solutions.

Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) fitted to an F-16

U.S. restarts Plutonium 238 production for space probes

A glowing red hot pellet of plutonium-238 dioxide to be used in a radioisotope thermoelectric generator for space missions.

The Department of Energy has produced its first batch of non-weapons grade plutonium, used to power space probes, since a nuclear reactor shutdown 25 years ago, NASA officials said on Monday.

The U.S. space agency turned to buying radioactive plutonium-238 from Russia after safety issues prompted the Department of Energy to close its Savannah River Site in South Carolina in the late 1980s.

The Russian supply line ended in 2010, leaving NASA with a small and aged supply of plutonium for space probes flying missions that are ill-suited for solar power.

Plutonium naturally radiates heat, which can be converted into electricity by a device called a radioisotope thermo-electric generator.

NASA has been flying nuclear-powered probes since the 1970s. Ongoing missions using such probes include the Mars rover Curiosity, the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft, Pluto-bound New Horizons and the twin Voyager probes, which are leaving the solar system.

"The new plutonium is very important to us," Jim Green, the head of NASA's planetary science division, said during a briefing at a Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.

In partnership with NASA, the Department of Energy irradiated the radioactive metal neptunium-237 with neutrons at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee for about a month and successfully produced a small amount plutonium.

"This is just a test," Green said, adding that a report from the Energy Department on production plans and costs should be finished before the end of the year.

NASA is looking for the department to produce about 3.3 to 4.4 pounds (1.5 to 2 kg) of plutonium-238 per year.

Newly made plutonium has the added benefit of reviving older plutonium that has decayed past the point of being viable for deep space probes.

"The new material when we add with our old plutonium, which is more than 20 years old in some cases, really allows us to get the appropriate energy density out," Green said.

NASA also has been working on a more energy efficient generator, called the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator, which can produce four times more electrical power per kilogram of plutonium-238.

Green said two such flight-ready generators are on schedule for completion in 2016. Neither has yet been assigned for a specific mission.

Production on major part of China jumbo rocket completed

Production on a major part of China's Long March-5 large-thrust carrier rocket has been completed and its maiden voyage is expected to take place during the country's 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), according to its producer.

The entire production of the new generations of rockets, including the Long March-5 and -6, will be housed in a large industrial base in north China's Tianjin Municipality, said Ma Xingrui, general manager of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

CASC designs and manufactures major products for the country's space industry such as the Shenzhou manned spacecraft and the Long March rocket series.

The Tianjin Aerospace Industry Base, with an area of 4,700 mu (313.33 hectares), has been built with a total investment of more than 6 billion yuan (938 million U.S. dollars), according to the CASC.

It is designed to meet China's growing demand for space technology research and development over the next 30 to 50 years.

By integrating the industrial chain, the base will be able to produce an entire spectrum of rockets of different sizes and types for the nation's moon probe project, space station and other projects, according to the corporation.

The base is built for the design, production, assembly and testing of new generations of carrier rockets, space stations and special equipment, and it provides high-end services such as aerospace software, Ma said.

The construction of a 220,000-sq.m. workshop for new-generation carrier rockets has been completed at the base, he said.

The Long March-5 rocket is scheduled to be put into service in 2014,Liang Xiaohong, deputy head of the CASC-affiliated China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology which designs and produces the rocket, has said during previous interviews.

With a maximum low Earth-orbit payload capacity of 25 tonnes and high Earth-orbit payload capacity of 14 tonnes, Long March V rockets will be among the world's leaders in payload capacity and reliability, Liang said, adding that the 25-tonne maximum capacity is 2.5 times that of in-service Long March rockets.

The production of a core cabin for China's manned space station and large satellites will also begin during the 2011-2015 period, Ma said.

H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine: Production Problems

The World Health Organisation says global production of vaccines for pandemic flu will be "substantially less" than the previous maximum forecast of 94 million doses a week.

WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl says the number of doses produced in a year will fall short of the 4.9 billion doses the global health body previously hoped could be available.

Hartl says production will be lower because some manufacturers are still turning out vaccines for seasonal flu.

He told reporters in Geneva on Friday that production problems have also reduced the weekly output of pandemic vaccine.

WHO says that in theory all the world's 6.3 billion people should receive at least one dose of vaccine against the pandemic strain of H1N1, also known as swine flu.

Green Technology: Solar Power Costs Fall 40%

There are brighter days ahead for solar shoppers these days. The price of installing solar power is perhaps not 'right', but it's certainly getting better.

Solar Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to commodity analysts.

The price drops, coupled with governmental support and incentives, could reduce the payback and return on investment (ROI) time. It can take solar panels a minimum of 16 years to pay for themselves and up to 22 years, in areas with higher electricity costs. That calculation does not include any 'green grants' or rebates, which will improve the economics considerably.

Consumers have the rest of the world to thank for the big solar price break. Until recently, panel makers had been constrained by limited production of polysilicon, which goes into most types of panels. Now, more factories have opened up that make the material, as have more solar panel assembly and production plants. Unfortunately most of these are in China.

At the same time, the global demand for solar panels has slowed enormously, particularly in Europe, previously the largest solar market. Photovoltaic installations in Europe are forecast to fall by 26 percent this year, compared with 2008.

Much of that decline can be attributed to a sharp slowdown in the Spanish market. Faced with high unemployment and a growing economic crisis, Spain slashed its generous subsidy for the panels last year because it was costing too much.